A dog may have spared a man in Salem, Oregon from a 50-year prison sentence.
Joshua Horner was convicted of sexual abuse of a minor—his victim asserted he killed her dog to keep it from talking. However, the dog is just fine.
The reality that the dog is still alive contradicts key testimony introduced to convict the defendant, who already had been set free from prison and is no longer facing a potential retrial.
In this very puzzling and slightly confusing fable, in 2017 plumber Joshua Horner was convicted of sexually abusing a minor who testified that Horner had vowed to shoot her animals if she ever ratted on him to the cops.
To prove he was sincere in his words, she testified, he shot her dog.
Though after Horner appealed to the Oregon Innocence Project, the group figured that if it could locate the pooch—Lucy—it would be evidence that the supposed victim had lied under oath.
The persons at the Innocence Project became anthropomorphic bloodhounds on the trail of the canine, a black lab with definable ears and coloring. Funnily, they ended up tracking the dog down.
The mere existence of the dog showed the complainant was untruthful in her testimony — enough proof for John Hummel, Deschutes County District Attorney, to request the case be dismissed.
The woman too failed to arrive at a meeting in August to address her assertion. “Lucy the dog was not shot. Lucy the pet is alive and well,” Hummel’s office announced.
“While I cannot say with certainty that Mr. Horner did not sexually abuse the named victim I can say I am not convinced by a preponderance of evidence that he did and I am certainly not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt,” Hummel said Thursday.
The man’s innocence and the dog’s breathing of air still is worth celebrating, totally; Photo: TenorLast week, an investigator caught wind that the “victim” was at a home and went to confront her.
When he pulled up in the driveway, she quickly ran away.
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